Contents The volume includes: • The second part of the 1951
Silmarillion drafts • An expanded account of the "Grey Annals", the history of
Beleriand after the coming of the
Elves. • Additional narratives involving
Húrin and the tragedy of his children (see
Narn i Chîn Húrin). "The Wanderings of Húrin" is the conclusion to the
Narn. It was not included in the final
Silmarillion because Christopher Tolkien feared that the heavy compression which would have been necessary to make it a stylistic match with the rest of the book would have been too difficult and would have made the story overly complex and difficult to read. • Christopher Tolkien's explanation of how he, with the collaboration of future
fantasy author
Guy Gavriel Kay, constructed Chapter 22 "Of the Ruin of Doriath" of the
Quenta Silmarillion, since none of his father's accounts of this episode were recent enough to fit the narrative in its final form. In particular, the old texts all portray
Thingol as a miser who cheats the Dwarves out of their payment, and the portrayal of the Girdle of
Melian in the older stories is much weaker than the impenetrable barrier of the post-
Lord of the Rings writings. • Tolkien's exploration of the origins of the
Ents and the great
Eagles. • "Quendi and Eldar" discusses the many names the Elves gave to themselves in
Primitive Quendian and
Common Eldarin and their evolution in
Quenya,
Telerin, and
Sindarin; it has many details about the history of the Elves and their
sundering. It also explains the Elvish names given to Men, Dwarves, and
Orcs. • "The Cuivienyarna" is an Elvish folk-tale about the awakening of the Elves.
Inscription There is an inscription in
tengwar on the title page of each volume of
The History of Middle-earth, written by Christopher Tolkien and describing the contents of the book. The inscription in Volume XI reads "In this book are recorded the last writings of John Ronald Reuel Tolkien concerning the wars of Beleriand, here also is told the story of how Húrin Thali[o]n brought ruin to the Men of Brethil, with much else concerning the Edain and Dwarves and the names of many peoples in the speech of the Elves." == Reception ==